REVIEW: Lake Nowhere

- By Patrick Ricketts

Lake Nowhere traces the familiar tale of a group of friends who arrive at a desolate lakeside cabin only to be stalked and murdered by a “Masked Maniac.” This age-old tale of senseless slaughter quickly spirals into the realm of supernatural horror and classic monster movies, as we learn the true power that lies within LAKE NOWHERE. - IMDB

Lake Nowhere tells the story of a group of friends who head to an isolated cabin next to Lake Nowhere. After they arrive, everyone seems to do their own thing, the most notable is Danny, who decides to take a dip in the lake. His friends tell him he is crazy because the water is too cold but temperatures will be the least of his problems… because what none of them know is the lake is contaminated. As the sun sets, Danny still hasn’t returned and for whatever reason the rest of the group act like it is no big deal, but he then all of a sudden wanders back naked, cold and not looking every well. The group gets him inside and warmed up and make him lay down, but it isn’t long before he is up and attacking people.

Around the same time that Danny took his dip in the lake, Bonnie took her dog for a walk and it is then that we notice someone or something in the woods is watching them. So when things start to go bad and the group must get away from Danny, they don’t know there is also something evil that awaits them outside as well.

Lake Nowhere clocks in at 50 minutes long and it has several trailers and a beer commercial before the feature film begins at around 7 minutes in. From the start you can tell by the original trailers that directors Christopher Phelps and Maxim Van Scoy are very talented film makers and that they both love old horror films, particularly from the 80’s.

Once the film starts it takes its time setting up the story and introducing us to the characters. None of the characters are really developed but it never seems to matter because they all seem likeable anyway. The film has two villains that the group must battle, Danny and the unknown stalker outside. It takes a while for the action to get started but once it does it is nonstop mayhem all the way to the end. I liked the 80’s retro VHS look and the film had some very cool practical effects as well. I am not going to go into details about what happens so not to ruin the film for those wanting to see it, but I will say that the film really brought back a lot of memories for me. It was like it was a long lost horror movie from the 80’s that was just found in some time capsule.

For the sake of argument I will call this a ‘short film’ since it only runs 50 minutes, but it never feels like one because it is jammed packed with horror and there is always something going on. This is only the second short film for directors Christopher Phelps and Maxim Van Scoy, but you can tell they really have their finger on the pulse of the genre and that they love what they are doing. They also hired themselves a great cast of unknowns, no one really stood out in the film to me but only because they were all fantastic.

Lake Nowhere will be released on August 16th on Blu-Ray, DVD & VOD by BrinkVision. The “Limited Edition” Blu-Ray/DVD combo comes jam-packed with special features, including a half hour behind-the-scenes featurette documenting the skeleton crew’s six fateful days on location at a remote lakeside cabin.

Lake Nowhere is a great way to relive all the fun that was 80’s horror. It is a throwback film that pays homage but it also stands alone as a fun and entertaining film as well. If you like horror you owe it to yourself to pick this up now.

- By Patrick Ricketts, www.videoviews.org